Cloud of Feathers
by NeoTiamat1
Summary: A few years after FF7, Cloud is turned into a chocobo, and the whole gang gets back together. Yay!
1. Chapter One

Cloud walks slowly back to the Seventh Heaven after a long day fighting monsters. It was hard work, but the money from them never ended, and was decent pay. He wondered about how his life might have been were things different. If the 'incident' in Midgar had never happened, and he had never fought the Weapons, or stopped Meteor or Sephiroth, where would he be? Would he even be alive?  
Cloud sighed as he passed slowly through the large forest, batting idly at the annoying little finger that floated over his head, ever pointing at him. After the entire ordeal had been over with, he and Tifa moved in together in seclusion. Tifa raised chocobos and sold them, and Cloud killed monsters. His was a three-fold purpose, though; he stayed in shape, he kept monsters away from their home, and he made good money. He sighed as suddenly there was a loud 'WOOSH' and everything contorted as a monster appeared. Drawing his sword, he trudged up to the monster and heaved his giant sword into the air, merely letting it fall and cleave the huge lizard in half. Annoying midi-style music began to play and he found a few hundred gil and a potion. He chugged the potion, and felt woozy for a second.   
"Hey.... that was a good one!" He said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and tossing away the empty container as it disappeared into nothingness. He continued along his way, feeling better.  
Finally, after some while, Cloud returned to his small home, which was always seen from a diagonal angle. It was a modest house; one floor, seven or eight rooms and a small cellar, but he was happy to be with Tifa. Out back was a large fenced in area and a decent barn Tifa used as a stable. After dropping off the several hundred pounds of gil he had been carrying (for monsters never left a hundred-gil note, they always paid off in small change... grr), Cloud began searching for Tifa. He found her back by the barn. As he approached, he found her kneeling beside her latest project, a black chocobo named Riyuni, and the sun slowly setting behind her made her long, dolphin-tailed hair glow with a halo of light. Walking up, scratched the bird's neck-feathers.  
"You know, with how much time you spend with these Chocobo's, a guy could start getting jealous of them!" He laughed.  
"Waarrk!" The bird happily chirped, and nuzzled Tifa. Tifa giggled and pet the bird before setting aside her comb and brush and standing up to face Cloud.  
"You might just be careful, a girl could get used to a big animal like this!" She said, falling into the familiar patterns of their daily jesting matches.  
Cloud tch'd. "All you ever think about is riding those things!" He stressed the word 'riding'. "You keep this up and I might just start to take a liking to these birds as well!" He said, grinning at her.  
Tifa's shoulders went slack, and she blinked, going chibi and looking at him blankly for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Cloud and Tifa laughed for a few minutes, enjoying themselves while the Chocobo happily warked. Tifa stood next to the chocobo, caressing its neck as it began to preen her hair.  
"See? Riyuni-kun here knows how to treat a lady!" She said, the bird's large tongue tickling her neck as it tried to clean her spotless hair. "Maybe you could take a few pointers from it!" She said, hugging its neck as it looked up at them with its large eyes. Cloud's mako-blue eye twitched and he looked at the bird mock-jealously.  
"Hey, watch it buddy!" He said to the Chocobo, which warked and nuzzled Cloud as he walked over, hands on hips. They both laughed as Tifa led him into the grazing-area that was fenced off and shut it back.  
After she was done with the chocobo and had put away her grooming tools, they headed inside.  
"So, anything new around here lately?" Tifa asked, referring to his daily patrol of the area.  
"A few lizards, a few indescribable mole-looking-things, but not really to much." He said, drinking a cup of tea Tifa had had brewing.  
"That's good to hear. I don't want any of them coming near my Chocobos. I really like this latest one, and I'm thinking about racing it myself. Its horribly fast." She said, rubbing her hands together, chibifying and blazing with flames of ambition. Cloud chibis and cowers.  
"When?" He asked, everything having returned to normal.  
"Oh, I dunno. Next week I suppose. We're going to meet with Nanaki, remember?" She stared at him.  
"Hmmm? Oh! Red XIII?" He lights up with a brilliant realization.  
"Yes. Well, he found this new materia out in his canyon, and he wants us to come and take a look at it."  
"And fend off Yuffie?" He supplied.  
"Far as I know he's already had to call in reinforcements on that one." She laughed. "I thought maybe we could ride Riyu out and then make a detour at the Gold Saucer on the way back." She said.  
"F'you say so, Teef." He said, using the abbrieviation of her name that he had picked up off of Barret.  
"And I though... while we're at the Gold Saucer, we might as WELLL stop by North Coral and see Barret!" She declared as if the idea had just struck her.  
"I'll miss this place... to bad I'll never see it again." He said, his face in his hands.  
  
Packing up everything they would need in their ever present invisible and infinitely large backpacks, Tifa and Cloud set about preparing Riyuni for the journey.  
"I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something..." Cloud said as he carefully inspected the chocobo's feed before setting out. Suddenly, his stomache grumbles.  
Tifa stops mid-movement and freezes. Dread washes over her as she realizes what this means.  
"Noooo! Food! Precious food! I forgot to eat anything! We can't leave yet! I'm hungry!" He wailed, clutching his stomache and falling to his knees, bent over.  
"Oh c'mon, Cloud! You can fast!" She encouraged him, hoping to not be forced to delay their trip any.  
"What do I look like, a monk? I can't travel on an empty stomach! I'll get chocobo-sick!" He said.  
"Oh! But I had just packed up everything in the house for us being away, it'll take hours to get everything back out and fix something!"  
"Isn't there any food around at all?" He asked pathetically. "As long as I get SOMETHING to eat, I'll be ok, I guess... kinda." He trailed off.  
Tifa searched frantically, then finally appears from nowhere, hope glowing about her brightly. "Here! You can eat these!" She said, holding up her hands to him dramatically. In them are several large, tasty looking nuts.  
Cloud falls over. "Zeio nuts!? You want me to eat _birdfood_??" Riyuni pecks him. "Ow!"  
"No no! They're tasty! Aren't they, Riyuni?" The chocobo warks and does a little jump. Cloud looks skeptical. "Look, its this, or I'm leaving. With, or without you." She states, placing her hands on her hips.  
Cloud knows better than to argue with her when she gets into that tone of voice, and he takes the nuts, looking at them for a moment and grimacing, before shrugging. "I swear, you'de love me ten times as much if I were a chocobo." He said, and began munching on the nuts.  
"That's right!" She says, chibifying and jumping up into the air, giving a peace sign. Cloud groans.  
"Hey... these aren't that bad!" He says, munching on them happily. He practically swallows the rest of them whole, and Tifa's jaw drops as she stares at him, inhaling the nuts like air.  
"Wow... you must have been REALLY hungry, Cloud." She says. "Well, now that THAT crises is averted, lets go!"   
"Alright!" Cloud cheers, his happiness directly proportional to the contents of his stomache.  
"Wark!" Riyuni chirps as they climb onto him and ride off at a fast pace.  
  
Later that day, Cloud and Tifa stop for the night. Letting Riyuni graze, they set up a camp. When it is finally erect, Tifa places the finishing touch by depositing an Enemy-Away materia in the center.  
"That'll keep the pesky monsters away." She says definitively. The two have travelled hard all day and are tired. They quickly eat and fall asleep, under the brilliant gaze of a full moon...  
"WARK!"  
Tifa mumbles, slowly drifting from her sleep.  
"WAAARRRRRK!!!" She hears the panicked cry of a chocobo and sits up, immediately awake and alert. She glances around, and sees Riyuni safely tied to the tree where he had been left the night before, clam, but agitated.  
"WARK! WARK WARK! WARK! WARK!" She hears, but she suddenly realises that it isn't Riyuni making the sound. She looks beside her to Cloud's sleeping pallet to find him missing. Then, a huge yellow face appears above her, screaming "WARK WARK WARK!" She quickly stands, putting one arm around the chocobo's neck to comfort it and calm it down, while pulling on her fighting gloves and scanning the area for whatever had frightened this chocobo so much. She didn't stop to think why a wild chocobo would run to her if frightened, since she was so used to them.  
"Wark! Wark wark wark wark wark!" It cried again, softer this time though, as if calming now enough to talk to her.  
"Shhhh... its ok." She said, stroking its long neck and face to calm it. She still looked around, but there were no monsters to be found. "Why are you so scared?" She asks it, without expecting a reply.  
"Wark! waaaaarrrrrrk! Wark wark!" It says back to her.  
Tifa looks at the odd chocobo as she asks it, "Who are you, anyway? If you're that trusting of a human you must have an owner somewhere that's looking for you." Then she freezes, and gasps. The light shines brightly off of the chocobo, for its feathers have a brilliant golden sheen. "You're a- a GOLD chocobo! But I thought only the Chocobo Sage knew how to breed a- and Cloud, but his died long ago!" She exclaims, running her hands along either side of its face, studying it in awe.  
Again, Tifa looks around to try and find Cloud, but he is gone. "I had better hold onto you until your owner comes around."  
"Wark!" It says, and breaks free of her grasp.  
"Hey! Where are you going?" She asks, as it does not run away, but walks over to their sleeping pallets. It reached down with its beak and grabs the buster sword, somehow managing to pick it up by the handle.  
"Chocobo! That's Cloud's!" She declares, looking at it oddly. It nods dramatically and frantically after dropping the sword. Then, it suddenly stops, and looks right at her, sniffing.  
"WARK!!!!" It cries and runs at her, knocking her down and tearing at her clothes.  
"Hey! What are you doing!?" She cries, then remembers the gyshal greens she had kept in her pocket for Riyuni. She laughed, despite the fact that it had nearly completely destroyed her pants getting into her pocket, and now happily ate them, the greens, not her pants. Now it was joyfully licking and preening her.  
"Hey, hey! You cut that out! Cut it out!" She said, still laughing at the large golden bird atop her's enthusiasm. Strangely, it did, and moved off of her. She stood, pulling her clothes about her, or their tattered remains anyway. She would have to remember to not carry greens on her anymore. Thankfully, she had several identical outfits along with her.  
"Cloud!" She called.  
"Wark?" The chocobo cocked its head to one side and looked at her.  
"No, not you... Cloud!" She said, giggling.  
"Wark WARK Wark!" It says to her calmly, fiercly. A tone entirely alien to any chocobo she had ever known. She found herself gazing into its eyes, as it stares deeply into her soul, its attitude commanding her attention. She stares into their shining, mako-blue depths.  
"Blue.... ?" She whispers quietly. "Blue!? Cloud?" Its eyes are the color of pure mako. Only members of Soldier underwent the process of mako-showering, and no other process could reproduce the unnatural, glimmering effects.  
"Wark!" It nods. HE nods.  
"Ohhh..." Tifa's eyes flutter, and she falls over, fainting.  
  
Cloud stood patiently over Tifa, waiting for her to regain conciousness. Slowly, she began to murmer and her eyes opened.  
Tifa looked up into two huge blue eyes and a large, yellow beak staring down at her, filled with worry. Her senses back about her, she realized she had seen stranger, and reached up to Cloud, caressing his neck.  
"Oh Cloud!" She got to her knees, hugging him. "How did this happen!??" She asked.  
"Wark!" He said.  
"Oh... I can't understand a word you're saying!" She said. Cloud's yellow head hung in hopelessness. "There there! I'll find a way to change you back!" She promised.  
"Wark." He replied, sounding happier at least.  
"Oh! We should continue to see Nanaki! Maybe he can help us!" She said, brightening.  
"Wark! Wark wark!" He replied cheerfully.  
Walking over to Riyuni, Tifa untied his reins, releasing him, and he shot off across the open plains back towards their home.  
"WARK! Wark wark!? Wark?" Cloud looked at her baffled.  
Tifa turned upon him and grinned wickedly, rubbing her hands together...  
Cloud slowly backs away. No! No! No no no! This is a bad dream! This isn't happening! Cloud thought. "Wark! WARK WARK WARK!"  
"Oh come on, Cloud! You're a GOLD chocobo! You'll get us there in no time! And after that, we can *COUGHwinafewracesatthegoldsaucerandshowyoutoeveryoneandtakepicturessothatwecanallblackmailyoufortherestofyournaturalfeatheredlifeheheheCOUGH* get you back to normal!" She said cheerfully. Cloud stares at her skeptically. "Oh come on... do it for ME?" She pleaded.  
Clouds stands, tears in eyes and half chibified as Tifa happily jumps onto him.  
"Waaaarrrrrk..." He chirps pathetically.  
"Come on, brighten up! This is a dream come true! I've got a lover and a prize-winning chocobo all in one! Now lets GO!" She says happily.  
Well.... I suppose this can't be THAT bad... His mood quickly swings. Kinda interesting anyway... My life'd been fairly boring for a while there, truth to tell. He leaps off at a sprint across the plains, and found that his legs move like lightning. "Wark!" He cries as they speed off.   
Tifa cries out happily as they speed along, easily moving several times faster than on Riyuni. "Wheeeee!" She says, her long dolphin-tail flying out directly behind her in the wind. She clings close to Cloud as the speed nearly threatens to dislodge Tifa, but she has had years of experience riding fast chocobos.  
Hey, that's kinda nice! He thinks appreciatively, feeling Tifa's warm legs tightly wrapped around his sides, her small form pressed close against his back. Those damn lucky birds, I should kill them for getting to have Tifa ride around on them all the time! He suddenly is very jealous of the birds for getting so much of her attention now that he is on the recieving end of it.  
  
Cloud and Tifa crossed the landscape in a blur of colors, covering mountains and forests in several minutes that should have taken them several hours. They arrived finally in Cosmo Canyon, to find Nanaki already waiting for them at the entrance. Tifa dismounts Cloud and stands holding his tiny rein which was fastened for nothing more than something more to hold on to and Tifa's current obsession with weilding any power she now held over him.  
"Greetings, Tifa. I am happy that you have arrived so soon. Where is... *sniff* *sniff*." Nanaki looks at Cloud in confusion for a moment, then his eyes betake a look of amusement. "Your looking much tastier than last I saw you, Cloud!" He grins, displaying two viscious rows of fangs.  
Cloud collapses to the ground, his neck flat along it as are his wings and tail. Even his spiked crown-feathers droop momentarily. What did I do to deserve this?  
Tifa giggles.  
"You must come inside and tell me of how this happened." Nanaki says, and turns to walk into one of the (now) many multi-level buildings. Tifa follows, dragging Cloud along by the reins as he gags, his eyes bugging out.  
  
"So, you don't really know what happened, you just woke up to find him like this?" He asks plainitively.  
"That's pretty much the sum of things." Tifa replies, nodding thoughtfully.  
"So what are you expecting to do now?" He asks, looking at Cloud, who munches happily on a sprout or two of gyshal greens.  
"Well... I was hoping to have some... FUN... with him first..." She pauses to laugh menacingly. "Then... I suppose I'll have to turn him back eventually." She says. "I was hoping-"  
"Wark!" Cloud interrupts indignantly. Why must they continue to treat me like a real chocobo? But these gyshal greens SURE are GOOD! Yum! Happy-chibi-Cloud-chocobo. ^.^  
"WE were hoping that you knew a way to change him back." She completes her sentence.  
Nanaki thinks for a few moments, looking very dignified, reclining on his haunches in deep thought. "Sure don't!" ^.^  
Everyone falls over and twitches.  
"BUT! There is one thing that I could try. Just go wait down by the fire until I'm standing on top of you and furiously mashing that X button attempting to elicit a response." He says, standing.  
"What?" Tifa asks.  
"Nothing. Go wait by the fire." He ammends himself.  
"Ok!" She says, and bounces off happily.  
Once she is thoroughly gone, Nanaki turns to Cloud. "Finally, I've been having a craving for chocobo lately!" He grins!  
"WAR-KGGLughhh" Cloud cries as Red XIII jumps at his throat, clamping down firmly and dragging him to the ground. Slowly, Cloud stops moving, and Nanaki begins tearing away his feathers to get to the soft flesh beneath.  
  
~JUST KIDDING!!!~  
(Hahahahaaaa! Please don't flame me for that...)  
(Ahhh what the hell, bring it on!)  
  
Once she is thoroughly gone, Nanaki leads Cloud up to a small room atop the building. On top is an intricate diagram and several small orbs surrounding the platform. He leads Cloud to the middle.  
"Get comfortable, and don't move. Allow your mind to be free, and let the spirit of the earth reach out to you and guide your thoughts." He says, going into a trancelike state opposite Cloud.  
Cloud settles down into a sitting position, looking far to much like an overgrown yellow duck, and does as the cyote/wolf/fox/thing tells him to. He relaxes his body and mind, and slowly, surely, he hears the planet speaking to him.  
  
"Cloud! Cloud!" Nanaki stirs him from his dream-like state.  
"Wark?" What? He asks, irritated by the disturbance.  
"It worked!" The wolf decalres happily.  
What worked? What are you talking about? He asks again.  
"What I tried! I freed your mind so that I could speak with you! The elder taught me about this many years ago." He says proudly.  
Hey! You can understand me! Nanaki begins nodding at his words. This is wonderful! Can you change me back now? He asks. Slowly, Nanaki stops nodding and starts shaking his head. Cloud sinks to the ground, for he had jumped up in excitement, and goes limp.  
"Come on! I did what I could. Be thankful. You keep lying there like an injured bird, though, and I might just be tempted to take a taste." He says michieviously.  
Oh cut it out, Red XIII. He says. He immediately regrets the words as Nanaki snaps at his flank, and Cloud barely dodges in time, losing a few feathers which protrude from Red XIII's teeth. "I warned you." He says plainly and shrugs.  
Cloud slowly backs away. "Maybe we should go and talk to Tifa now!" He quickly runs off to the base of the canyon where Tifa rests.  
"Wark WARK wark wark! Wark warrrrrk, wark waaaarrk!" He says.  
"What? You KNOW I can't understand you, Cloud. Calm down!" She sooths him. Cloud stares at her in confusion as Nanaki approaches. "Ah! How did it go, Nanaki?" She asks, turning her attention down (slightly) to him.  
"Perfectly. Only I can hear you, though, Cloud."  
Then WHAT GOOD DID THAT JUST DO ME!?!? He asks. Tifa jumps back a few paces as he flaps his wings, warking loudly. Red XIII sits calmly, not moving a muscle at his outburst.  
"Calm down Cloud." He says softly, sighing. "I am sorry that I could not do anything to change you back, but maybe Cait Sith would have an answer. His technology deals in this sort of thing."  
Tifa stares blankly at the two. "Riiiight... I'm assuming you can talk to him?"  
"Yes."  
"Well that's excellent! And a good idea too! Cait Sith can help us!" She says happily. Then she pauses from her chibi happiness. "Why do you have one of his feathers stuck in your teeth???" She glares at him suspiciously.  
Red XIII somehow manages to rub his head with one paw and look sheepish. "Well, you see, it-must-have-just-floated-there! We should get going if we're going to make it to North Corral and the Gold Saucer!" He says quickly and begins pushing the two towards the entrance as he picks the feather out of his teeth.  
  
(Don't ask me how they all fit on Cloud... they fit the whole party on one poor little chocobo in ALL of the FFs, so don't flame me for it. I guess Tifa could ride close against his neck and Nanaki could straddle Cloud and put his forepaws on Tifa's shoulders or something. Leave me alone, I'm more confused than YOU are, probably, and I'm the one wriiitttiiing thiiisss...)  
  
That night, they all stopped to camp as the sun descended. It was a long way to the Gold Saucer, even for a gold chocobo ex-Soldier. After eating a meal comprised of some bread and meat, a freshly killed monster, and some gyshal and keegan greens, the three sat around the fire talking. They caught up with each other, Cloud not talking much, and then only through Nanaki's translation, for Tifa demanded to know what Cloud was saying. Cloud actually found being able to talk without Tifa knowing what he was ACTUALLY saying quite amusing, for he could tell Nanaki things she would kill him for, whos quiet composure would never reflect and whose quick mind would easily account for. Tifa told Nanaki about her chocobo-raising buisness and passion, and how Cloud patrolled for monsters now. Nanaki told Tifa that he was surprised that she was so entirely devoted to animal husbandry. Cloud pecked him, and lost another feather or two in the process. Tifa laughed for several minutes after the brief squabble. Finally, the three retired.  
"Are you sure you don't want to sleep with us on a nice, warm pallet?" Tifa asked.  
"I will stand watch, you sleep." He replied.  
"Oh, you don't need to do THAT!" She said, pulling out the Enemy-Away materia, and setting it by her. "This'll take care of the monsters!" She said.  
"Nice. Well then, I'll sleep by that tree and give you two some privacy." He said, stressing 'privacy' and grinning.  
Tifa blushed fiercly and Cloud glared at him. "Now what would we need privacy for!?" She asked, embarrased at the several thoughts that came immediately to mind.  
Nanaki laughed quietly to himself. "I'm sure it isn't often you get a chance for something so.... _interesting_... I'm sure you don't want to pass up" Tifa went angry-chibi and started rolling up her sleeves as chibi-choco-Cloud started emitting black flames and his crystal blue eyes went bruning red "such a.... unique experience." He said, still laughing quietly. Looking up, Nanaki's eyes went wide as they both simultaneously descended upon him.  
The resulting scuffle ended with Red XIII knocked sensless, upside-down against the tree, and Cloud curled up with Tifa some ways away on top of the sleeping pallets. Tifa didn't need a pallet, for she found that Cloud was not only warmer, but his feathers were _softer_ than it was. So she nestled amongst his feathers and he laid a wing over her, and so they drifted off into peaceful slumber, except for Red XIII, who was up most of the night casting Cure.  
  
They woke to a fresh new day and a cheerful dawn. Tifa was reluctanct to leave Cloud's soft embrace, but did so, leaving him to sleep until they had food, for he would need the rest most of all.  
"We should make it to North Corral by evening today." Tifa said optomistically.  
"I would doubt that." He said, sighing.  
"Why?" Tifa stopped her preperation of breakfast to look up at him quizzically from where he lay with his head upon his front paws. He yawned widely, and glanced up at the sky.  
"Because... the author is grinning like an idio-" suddenly, he was struck by Thunder.  
"Hmmm?" Tifa went back to her preperations, somehow not seeing the brief flash of brilliant lightning.  
"Uhhh... *cough*" charred chibi "I dunno... just a vague hunch, I wouldn't even pay attention to it really, I'm sure that we'll be fine. Heh heh..." He ammended.  
"Oh, alright! That's nice to hear." She continued frying eggs (NOT from cloud, you freaks), and boiling some greens lightly for Cloud. The smell wafted over to Cloud, who immediately was shocked out of sleep and stood bolt-upright.  
"Wark!" He said, running for the food. Tifa stood and socked him in the beak, holding her sleeve up and glaring semi-chibi-style.  
"It _ISNT_ ready yet!" She says giving him a look that would petrify water and sitting calmly back down. Nanaki sits bug-eyed and wisely says nothing, waiting patiently for them to be ready to leave. After breakfast, they all piled inconcievable atop Cloud, and headed for North Corral!  
  
While travelling, they pass a small village. Suddenly, there is a huge explosion. The shockwave throws Cloud sideways and to the ground. Nanaki stops Tifa's fall gracefully, but Cloud is knocked head-first into a tree, badly-drawn-criss-crossed-bandaid-on-his-head-for-no-reason-style. The three watch the village cautiously for a moment, before Cloud regains his senses and jumps up.  
"Warrrrk wark!" He says, flapping his wings. "WARK!" He cries, and falls to the ground.  
"Cloud!" Tifa cries, and rushes over to him. "What's wrong!?" She asks.  
"Waaaarrrrk! Waaaarrrrrrk! Wark warrrrk!" He says, wincing somehow and favoring his left wing.  
"He says he hurt his wing." Nanaki translates.  
"Oh no! That's bad! If his wing's hurt, we can't travel until it heals!" She says.  
"Why?" Red XIII looks at her plainly confused.  
"Because! Chocobos use their wings and tails not only to steer, but for balance as well! If a wing is injured, it is unbalanced and cannot run at all!" She says, examining the wing carefully.  
"Can't we just use Cure?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at her.  
"It's to risky. If it wasn't set right, it would heal back all wrong and never be quite the same. I don't know how long he's going to be a chocobo, but I don't want to take any chances." She is now totally serious, her usual perky self evaporated immediately.  
"We should really go look and find out what that explosion was, don't you think? How long is it going to take his wing to heal?" He keeps glancing in the dirrection of the plume of smoke now pervading the sky.  
"Maybe a few days at most, I would say. An inconvenience, but no big deal." She says, beginning to cheer up as she bandages the wing with some convenient bandages lying around. Once the wing is all bound in the white roll, cloud stands and warks happily, moving his wing around a bit to show how good of a job it is. "Now don't go waving it around, you'll foul your wing." She says with a tone of complete authority.  
"What about the explosion?" Red XIII asks again.  
"Fine! We'll go take a look!" She says, and they turn and head off towards the location of the base of the pillar of smoke ascending rapidly into the sky.  
When they arrive, they find a small group of houses leveled, the smoke rising from their indistinguishable remains. They begin searching, and find, eventually, a man cowering just around a corner.  
"Who did this?" Tifa asks bluntly.  
"I saw the whole thing! There was this man with a cape! He destroyed the whole place, and went off that way!" He points towards a big house some ways up.  
"Well why did he blow the place up? Was there a fight?" Red XIII asks him.  
"I saw the whole thing! There was this man with a cape! He destroyed the whole place, and went off that way!" He points again.  
"No, WHY did he do it?" He repeats himself.  
"I saw the whole thing! There-"  
"Useless. They walk off in the direction he had pointed as the man continued to jabber the same lines over and over incessantly and to no one in particular. They come to a small building, and outside, Sephiroth stands wielding his gigantic sword, which he uses to cut straight through a gate in his path.  
"Sephiroth! What are you doing here!? We already defeated you!" Tifa cries.  
"Wark! Wark wark!" Cloud adds.  
Sephiroth slowly turns around.... and.... scratches his head. "Oh, really? That's too bad! I'm completely in the wrong place! Crap." He says. "Hey, whats with the giant chicken here?" He asks, pointing to Cloud and putting away his sword.  
"Wark! WAAAARRRRRK!" He says defiantly.  
"Oh, him? That's Cloud. He got turned into a chocobo." She says, sighing and shaking her head, which now rests in her palm.  
Sephiroth began to laugh, but tried to contain it. "That.... is Cloud! Oh... oh that's great!" Suddenly he becomes philosophical. "I was defeated by a giant chicken."  
"Wark!"  
"Chocobo, sorry." He ammends, rolling his eyes. Then becomes depressed. "Oh well, I'm not supposed to be here! Sorry for the trouble!" And vanished.  
"Well that was..." Tifa begins.  
"Wark."  
"Yeah." They both agree.  
Searching for an inn, they finally find one that wasn't caught in the blast, and get a room. The innkeeper tries to insist that Cloud sleep outside, in the stable, but Tifa 'insists' that he be allowed to stay in the room, and he _graciously_ agreed. They all tramped upstairs to their room and sat about.  
"So now we just sit by and wait for Cloud to heal?" Red XIII asks sullenly.  
"Looks that way!" Tifa says.   
Several minutes pass.  
"La dee da..." Tifa hums.  
"Wark..." Cloud agrees.  
"Mmmm... I'm going to take a nap. Where's that damn music!?" Red XIII looks around.  
"What music?" Tifa asks innocently.  
"The mus- ah! Here we go!" The music suddenly plays that always plays when you stay at an inn.  
"What just happened!?" Tifa looks frantically about at the new day.  
Nanaki sighs. "The music makes it tomorrow." He answers her.  
"What?" She slides to her knees, confused.  
"Ah, look! Cloud is healed!" He says brighly, removing the bandage (I guess he tears it off or something).  
"Wark!" Cloud happily jumps and waves his wing about.  
"But.... but that should have taken DAYS to heal! How is he already fine? What did you do? I want to know so I can use this on my other chocobos."  
"Don't you see? When the music plays, we all go away until the next day. The, we are moved back to our original places, and viola! A new day, and any wounds, no matter how life-threatening, are completely healed!" He says. Tifa nods and smiles all the while. They leave and mount Cloud for another day of travel. That night, they stop just outside of the mountains near the mines. Setting up the usual camp, they all fall asleep with no more than the usual bickering and confusion.  
  
That night, Tifa and Nanaki are suddenly awakened by a loud screeching noise.  
"WAAAARRRK! WAAAAAARRRRRRK!!!! WARK-WARK-WARK-WARK-WARK!!!" Cloud screeches as he pecks viciously at a large wolf that had attacked him. The wold retreats, whimpering.  
"Remind me never to wake him up." Nanaki grumbles.  
"What happened!?" Tifa demands.  
"WARK! Wark waaarrrrk, wark warrk." He replies, gesturing in some odd fation rather diliberately.  
"Nanaki, what is he saying?" She turns to look at Red XIII.  
"I dunno. Something about *yawn* the Enemy-Away materia being stolen and that thing attacking..." He falls back asleep.  
"But who could have taken the Enemy-Away!?" She begins to frantically search for it. After a moment of digging around in the dark, she finds a small note of paper. On it is a VERY cute chibi of Yuffie holding a glowing materia, and a little text bubble that says 'Thanx!'. Tifa stands glaring at the paper for a moment, which catches fire where she was staring at it and instantly burns to a crisp. The flames ignite all around Tifa, who goes chibi with rage.  
"I cannot believe that Yuffie (that little thief!) came right in here with us and stole my precious Enemy-Away materia! Now every time something attacks me I'll have to go through the trouble of punching it!" She fumes.  
"Wark!" Cloud agrees wisely.  
"Well, we can go retrieve it later. First, we should find a way to return Cloud to being a human." Red XIII input.  
Tifa turned upon him, eyes still blazing. "By the time we could do THAT, Yuffie would have already sold it! Do you know how long it took me to level that stupid thing up!?" She rants. "Anyway!" She is suddenly happy, the faint glint of promised malice in her eyes. "We have Cloud here! He's faster by far than Yuffie... oh, she'll never know what hit her!" She pulls on her fighting gloves and jumps on Cloud, who almost collapses as she backflips a few feet down onto him. Nanaki sighs and jumps on as well. Cloud, tears flowing from his eyes from the abuse, starts running off towards the nearest town where Yuffie could have sold the rare materia as Tifa digs her heels into his sides, ignoring the fact that he is actually Cloud.  
Why? When I'm back to human, I'm going to teach Yuffie a lesson for putting me through this. I CAN'T RUN ANY FASTER DAMN IT! Cloud warks loudly.  
"Calm down Tifa, you're hurting Cloud!" Nanaki yells to her as the wind threatens to take his words along with it.  
Tifa sweatdrops and scratches Cloud's neck feathers in apology. "Sorry, Cloud!" She says to him. All he returns is a slightly disgruntled wark.  
  
After travelling through several forests and two towns, they finally come upon Yuffie travelling happily through a small wooded area in her usual ninja attire. She is walking along whistling a little tune and tossing a materia up and down.  
As they approach and Cloud slows, Tifa vaults off of his back and lands on top of Yuffie, knocking her into the ground and grabbing the materia from mid-air just as it was about to begin falling again. Tifa lies chibi, tears running from her eyes and a giant bandaid on her head.   
"This isn't my Enemy-Away materia! Where is it!?" Tifa fumes at Yuffie, who jumps back a few feet. She stands innocently and rubs her head. "I dunno, what materia is that?" She asks.  
"Don't play dumb with ME!" Tifa morphs into a giant black dragon with the same dolphin-tailed hair and breaths fire in several directions, scorching several trees out of exhistance. "Where is it!?" She asks again.  
Tifa cowers, laughing. "Well, you see... I just needed it to get through this forest, see? So I kinda sold it at the last town!" She says, beginning to slink away. Tifa pounces on her, and pins her to the ground. Nanaki and Cloud stand some ways away watching the two as they begin scuffling in a cloud of dust and flailing limbs.  
"Wark..." Cloud says to Nanaki, not taking his eyes from the fight.  
"Agreed." Red XIII replies as the brief scuffle comes to an end.  
Tifa stands over Yuffie, who lies in a mangled heap, head spinning and eyes blank. Tifa walks calmly back to the two, smiling innocently. "Got it!" She says triumphantly, holding up her precious stone. "We can leave now!" She declares as she climbs back onto Cloud. Red XIII does as well, but just as they are about to leave, Yuffie appears out of nowhere beside them.  
"You're leaving already!? Where are you going?" She asks.  
"Cloud here got turned into a chocobo, and we're going to try to turn him back." Nanaki explains quickly.  
"Not without me, you aren't! Hey, I know some people who would pay GOOD gil for a chocobo like this!" She says.  
"Back off, Yuffie. Hey, how come this materia isn't working on YOU!?" She asks, glaring at her menacingly.  
"Ouch!" Yuffie says. "Come on, I'll help out! Hey, I think I might know how we can get him back!"  
"Wark?" Cloud looks at her hopefully.  
"Well, you see, Vincent opened a book store! He has all sorts of crazy books! Maybe he'll have something on Clouds.... condition!" She says.  
"Well, where is her, then?" Tifa asks.  
"Uh........ I forget!" Everyone falls over. "Well, do you have a better idea?" She asks, crossing her arms.  
"We were going to the Gold Saucer to talk to Cait Sith. His technology uses this kind of thing. We thought maybe he could help us out." Nanaki tells her about their plan, and how Cloud got this way in the first place.  
"Cait Sith!? That traitor? We should go ask Vincent first." She fumes, remembering how Cait Sith was actually just a puppet.  
"You've got a point. Let's go find Vincent then!" Tifa says cheerfully.  
"Wark? Wark wark warrrk?" Cloud asks.  
"Cloud want's to know just how we're going to start looking for him." Nanaki translates. They all sit around thinking for a moment. "Wait a second! I think he sent me something about that! Wasn't it up in the mountains somewhere?" He turns to Yuffie, who stares off into the distance for a moment.  
"Yeah! You're right! But that doesn't really narrow it down... Hmmm... do you still have whatever he sent you?" Yuffie wonders.  
"I think I do, back in Cosmo Canyon. Hey, all this travelling would be a lot easier if we had the Highwind. Whatever happened to it, anyway?"  
"Doesn't Cid still have it back at Rocket Town?" Tifa inputs.  
"Wark, wark-wark!"  
"Cloud says he does. It's only a short way from here! Let's go find out!" Nanaki says. They all jump on Cloud.  
"Come on, Cloud! What're you waiting for?" Tifa pokes him. Cloud's legs wobble with all of the extra weight.  
Help.... me..... He slowly starts moving, and picking up speed.  
  
Before long, the four reach Rocket Town, and walk to Cid's place. Yuffie rings the doorbell, and they stand waiting for a reply.  
"Who the !#^&)# is it!?" They hear a shout from behind the house. "I'm tryin' to @%(#^_ work on this stupid @#$)*%@*%_@_%@*%@!!"  
"Heh..." Tifa sweatdrops. "Guess he's home." They all head back, and find Cid working on the Highwind, which takes up a huge section of the wooded area, replacing the previously tilting rocket.  
"Greetings, Cid." Red XIII steps forewards and nudges Cid, who was ignoring them.  
"Now what the @%(#_^ is all the di- Red! Tifa! Yuffie..." Yuffie falls over. "What is god's )&*@#%^ name are you all doin' here!?" He stands, wiping his hands on an old, oily rag and setting down his wrench. "And where's Cloud? The !%^)& lunatic. I thought you" he gestures to Tifa "and him were livin' together now." He says.  
"Heh heh... we are." Tifa says. "And... he's, uh, right there." She points to Cloud, who warks in a friendly manner. Cid stares at the chocobo for a few moments of uncmfortable silence, before breaking out into laughter.  
"You've gotta be @%)&@% kiddin' me. Oh, that was pretty good, Cloud here. Heh-heh! You're a @!^#))#^ crazy buncha' @%)&@)@%s." He says. Everyone stares at him seriously. "You don't !@#%)@^ say. Hey, if that's you, Cloud, jump up and down three times and wark." He says, looking at the other three suspiciously. Cloud jumps three times.  
"Wark!" He says, confirmatively.  
"!)^*!#^" He stares at the chocobo. "How in @@)*@%)* @#!%^)&!^_!^_! !^_!@^_!#_%!_^%!_^&_(@#)%!@$(!@$! did THAT happen!?" He looks at the others in disbelief.  
"Maybe we should go sit down and tell you everything." Tifa suggests.  
"Ahhh.... alright. Marlene! The gang's all here! Make some tea, will ya?" He calls to her in a more pleasant tone than anyone ever remembered him talking to her in.  
"Alright, honey." She replies. Everyone notes, impressed, how he didn't curse when talking to her, and how much happier Marlene sounds.  
Inside, everyone sat around the small table, except for Nanaki and Marlene. Nanaki lay cozily on a warm rug, and Marlene went about the tiny kitchen, which had been expanded recently to a medium sized one, and prepared a drink for everyone.  
"Here you are!" She smiled warmly to Cloud as she set a bowl of sweet greens before him."  
"Wark!" He replied, and began tearing into the its contents with a will.  
As they sat, everyone told their little portion of the story (except for Yuffie, who was happy to merely sit quietly, oddly enough). Cid managed muttered his acknowledgment at what they said as they explained the entire ordeal, and its origins.  
"So, now you see why we're all here, right?" They all sit for a moment and look at him.  
Cid laughs, embarrased. "Sure as @#(& don't! So, you need the highwind, then? Marlene, it looks like I'm off on another of their crazy adventures!" Cid says, and everyone laughs.  
"Try to avoid having to help save the world again, dear." She says. After Cid retrieves his lance, and says his goodbyes to Marlene, they all head out back and board the Highwind.  
"Kinda feels good to be sittin' back up here with all you #(%@& lousy bunch!" Cid laughs as everyone agrees, and he starts up the engine. It slowly comes to life as power is fed from its main engine to the many machines and electronics which run it. The main scaffold wings extend as the landing thrusters kick in with a reminiscant lurch. They begin to slowly rise from the ground as the main turbines pick up speed and propel the secondary boosters.   
"Here we go!" Cid yells, as the thrusters flare to life, and they begin rapidly accelerating forewards. The Highwind begins to reach cruising speed, and everyone sits back in their usual spots and rests. Tifa helps Cloud settle into the small chocobo stable onboard. She stays with him there, one of the few places where a chocobo could be onboard and not be thrown around by the constant rocking and movement of the ship, nestled near its center of gravity.  
"Oh Cloud.... we'll get you back somehow, I promise." She hugs him fiercly, as he gives a comforting wark and preens a few strands of her hair.  
  
In no more than two hours' time, they had returned to Cosmo Canyon, picked up the note sent to Nanaki, and found Vincent's book store. Landing, they all began to disembark up the small mountain on which Vincent's store was located.  
"You're not coming, Cid?" Tifa called as she rode slowly out on cloud, seeing that he was still aboard the ship.  
"Nah! My time for all that @%$( is over. I'll just wait here for all you !@#%(^ slackers to get back." He said, crossing his arms and leaning back against a peice of machinery, striking a dramatic pose. Tifa looked up at him as the sun shone through parts of the Highwind to illuminate him from behind. Wow.... he's really got it all together. She thought. Just then, his scarf got caught in a gear as a chance gust of wind blew it into the ever turning teeth. It began pulling it into the machine, and Cid went bug-eyed as it nearly choked him, before pulling at it frantically. Finally, the gear reached the other side of its turn and released the cloth, sending Cid flying backwards to land sprawled upon the floor, eyes swirling. After a moment, Tifa picked herself off of the ground where she had fallen off of Cloud, twitching violently. Hopping back on Cloud, they began walking up the short distance to the ominous looking shop.  
Entering the door, which exhibited a loud creak, Yuffie stepped just inside, holding the door for Nanaki and Tifa, who still rode atop Cloud. Everyone walked just inside, and collapsed into nearby chairs and couches seated in the middle of a large room, from exaustion, except for Tifa and Cloud, who looked no worse for the wear.  
"NO CHOCOBOS IN THE STORE!" They heard a call from someone just above them. Looking up, they saw Vincent on a small walkway stretching the length of a large bookshelf. "Tifa! Nanaki! Yuffie... " his tone turned sour "what are you doing here?" They clearly saw that he was only speaking to the ninja-thief, who fell over.  
"Everyone hates me they all want to kill me well I hate you all too..." She muttered incoherently to herself.  
"What brings you here? And I said, no chocobos in the store. Sorry, but I can't make an acception, even for friends." He said, jumping down from the floor above to slow, then hover for a moment before setting softly and silently down before them.  
"Well... this isn't really a chocobo, you see... it's-" Tifa began, but was interrupted mid-sentence by Vincent.  
"Cloud, I know. No chocobo has eyes like that. So I suppose you'll want me to let him run about my shop making a mess of things and-" he would have continued, but Tifa sent him flying into a bookshelf, dislodging a few books, which fell onto him. "..........ow. Fine, he can stay."  
"Wark!" Cloud affirmed, nodding once, fiercly.  
"Well then, don't delay things. Tell me how this all happened." Vincent said, standing and replacing the books before walking over to stand before them. They told him, and he stood thoughtfully for a moment, before walking off wordlessly. They all sat in silence, observing their old-fashioned surroundings, and the many walls lined neatly with books.  
"Never imagined Vincent a shop owner..." Nanaki stated quietly, as if any loud noise might shatter the quiet surroundings.  
"Yeah... hey, I wonder if he'd sell me a hundred of the same thing!" Yuffie wondered aloud. Everyone sighed in mutual aggravation. Soon, Vincent returned, holding a large, leather bound book. Handing it to Tifa, Vincent stood back.  
"It was all I had that could be of any use to you." He said wistfully. Tifa slowly opened the book as if any fast movement might turn the pages to dust and forever destroy any hope of returning Cloud. Inside, she read the title aloud.  
"The complete guide to.... Animal Husbandry!? Vincent!!!" She threw the book at him, and it knocked him backwards. "THAT ISN'T FUNNY!!!" She yelled, kicking him nearly through a wall.  
"Wark..." Cloud sighed. Everyone began to leave, but Vincent halted their retreat.  
"Wait. I may be of help, though I know not how. Have you tried asking the Chocobo Sage?" He suggested.  
"Well, not really. We were saving that as a last resort, you see, he has this bad habit of constantly forgetting things." Tifa answers.  
"Well, what other option do you have?"  
"I say we should just count our losses (if there are any) and go win a fortune at the chocobo races!" Yuffie suggests, but is pecked over the head several times before fleeing out of the shop.   
"Well, I guess we should head for the Chocobo Sage, then?" Tifa asks.  
"Sounds like the only available option. Shall we depart?" Vincent turns and leaves, waiting for everyone else and then locking the shop behind him.  
"Won't you lose buisness coming along with us?" Tifa asks while he finishes locking up.  
"Nonsense Tifa.... my shop is located atop a small hill in the middle of nowhere! I don't get that much buisiness in the first place."  
"F'you say so." They head down after everyone else, Cloud trailing along beside Tifa. Everyone boards the Highwind, and they depart for the cold of the Northern Mountains, far to near the place where their final battle against Jenova and Cloud's confrontation with Sephiroth took place for them to be comfortable. 


	2. Chapter Two

Tentatively, Cid sets the massive airship down in the small clearing around the tiny house.  
"You guys coming?" Tifa looks back at everyone still lingering on the ship as she and Cloud begin leaving.  
"Nah!" Yuffie calls after her.  
"The Chocobo Sage only has a small home, and all of us might make it harder for him to remember him. We'll stay here and await your return." Nanaki explains quickly. "You two go on ahead. We'll be right here." He says. Tifa slowly leaves, keeping her eye on him. "Good luck!" He calls after her.  
Tifa opens the door to the Chocobo Sage's small home and enters, Cloud walking along behind him hopefully. The Sage's chocobo warks a greeting to them, and Cloud wanders over to it, also warking. Tifa wonders briefly what they are talking about, but heads over the the Chocobo Sage, who, as always, is in the back corner.  
"Hello there!" She says, attempting to get his attention.  
"Who's this?" The Sage says, turning towards her. "Oh, hello! I remember you, you're the- wait, nope. Forgot. Oh well." He says, offhandedly.  
"I'm Tifa... I've got a little problem, you see, Cloud, here" she points to Cloud "was turned into a chocobo."  
"Who was turned into a chocobo?"  
"Cloud, here." She points again.  
"Now, what was he turned into?"  
"A chocobo."  
"Ah! Yes, I know quite a bit about chocobos, you see. What do you need to know?" Tifa looks hopeful.  
"How to change Cloud back to a human!" She says brightly.  
"Change who?" Tifa falls over.  
"Cloud."  
"What about this cloud? There's lots of clouds."  
"He's a chocobo!"  
"You say there's a cloud that looks like a chocobo? What good does that do me?"  
"No no no... Cloud, that's my fiance's name, he was TURNED INTO a chocobo."  
"Ahhh! I see! And you want to know how to get him back!"  
"YES! Do you know how?"  
"I sure do!"  
A brief pause.  
"Well?" Tifa asks impatiently.  
"Well what?"   
Tifa's eye begins twitching violently.  
"Well how do I GET HIM BACK!?!?" She nearly screams. Cloud warks, startled, and falls over.  
"Get who back? From where? Oh, that Cloud fella?"  
"Yes." She begins to calm again as they make some progress.  
"So, this fiance of yours is a chocobo?"  
"Yes."  
"Well, I'd have to say that marrying a chocobo isn't that entirely a good idea. I'm not sure that I can really help you." He says in a funny voice.  
"NO! He's not a REAL chocobo! He was turned into one after he ate some Zeio nuts I gave him."  
"Not a very bright fella, is he?"  
"Rrrrrr! Just tell me how to get him back to normal!" She yells at him.  
"Calm down, calm down. First, by any chance, was it a full moon when this all happened?" The sage asks, raising his eyebrows.  
"Well, I think it was, but what does that have to do with anything?"  
The sage looks at her for a few moments in silence.  
"I have no idea." Tifa collapses to the floor in frustration.  
"Do you know how to get him back or not?" Tifa asks, dangerously on the verge of nuking the surrounding five-mile radius.  
"Hmmm...." He thinks intensly for a moment. "I seem to have forgotten." The sage laughs and rubs his head as Tifa begins flaming with deadly anger.  
"Wark!" Cloud quickly trots over to her and nuzzles her.  
"You're right, Cloud. Let's go, we'll try back later, Mr. Sage." Tifa says politely, slowly calming down.  
Returning to the Highwind, Tifa and Cloud head drearily in to the bridge. Everyone looks at them, waiting for some report.  
"Well?" Yuffie breaks the silence.  
"He forgot." Tifa says. Nanaki nods silently. "Well, I didn't want to have to do this, but... lets go to the Midgar Flats..." She says drearily.  
"But, you don't mea-" Yuffie begins, but Nanaki pounces her, giving her a look that would make most sane men cower.  
"Heh-heh... nice doggy?" Yuffie Red XIII gives her an offended look before padding off of her and back to his spot. By this time, the Highwind is already slowly raising, and in no time, they reach Midgar. Cid sets the ship down next to a small farm. Tifa cheers up just before she makes her way off of the highwind riding Cloud.  
  
Entering the small home, Tifa tells Cloud to wait just outside. He looks around, and recognizes the small farm as the first place he had ever seen a real chocobo. Several roam about a small enclosure, and graze contentedly.  
Back aboard the ship, Yuffie crouches next to Nanaki, whispering to him. "But why was Tifa acting so strange?" She asks.  
"Because..." Nanaki begins "this is the Chocobo Ranch, Tifa's number one competition." He explains. "She had come to him originally to find out about starting a buisiness raising chocobos. He had laughed at her and told her that she would never be able to with her temper. Needless to say, he didn't get out of bed for a few days, but Tifa and he have been in bitter competition for quite some time."  
"Ohhhh.... I get it! I'll be back in a little while!" She says, mischief playing across her large eyes. Red XIII sweatdrops.  
"That can't be good..." He says, but stays where he is.  
Inside, Tifa sits with the owner drinking a cop of tea brewed from sweet greens. Just outside, Cloud drinks the same from a special bowl.  
"So, what really brought you here. You must either be having some sort of trouble. or have become successful enough to brag about it. So what's the trouble?" He asks confidently. Tifa nearly jumped across the table at him, for he was grinning slightly even now, seeing her anger at his words, but Tifa restrained herself for Cloud's sake.  
"Well, you see, my fiance ate some Zeio nuts on a full moon..." She begins.  
"Ah, bad luck then. I suppose you'll want to know how to get him back to normal." He says.  
"So you know?" She asks, amazed at his knowledge and quick thinking.  
"Not entirely. But there is no way that you could either afford a gold chocobo, or raise one, so I could only assume." Tifa was at her limit, and nearly broke... him. "Yes, I know how to get him back. First thing, you'll need a Cat's Bell. Come back if you manage to get ahold of one." He says.  
Tifa calmly stands and leaves, politiely thanking him for his help. Outside, she finds Cloud still drinking the, admittably, good tea. Grabbing him by the reins, she nearly strangles him as she drags him across the ground back to the ship. Tossing him into the chocobo pen, she fumes all the way to the bridge as Cloud lays upside down, eyes spinning and still partially gagging.  
Once she does reach the bridge, everyone wisely stays silent.  
"North Corral, NOW!" She says, daring anyone to even question her order with a piercing gaze that made Nanaki cower behind a peice of machinery. Eventually, as they travelled, Tifa calmed down and once again maintained a cool facade.  
"So, are we going to the Gold Saucer?" Yuffie asked quietly, meekly (for once in her life).  
"Yup!" She smiles, and everyone breaths a mutual breath of relief that Yuffie wasn't already plummeting over the rail and back down to the Earth. "We just need to stop by and pick up a Cat's Bell... I figure that Cait Sith still has his. Won't take long." She says. Yuffie sighs in disappointment, for she was hoping that she might be able to make a _few_ gil off of Cloud's speed. Maybe there was a chance yet...  
They arrived somewhat later, almost nearing the end of the oh-so-incredably-all-that-couldn't-have-possibly-happened-could-it-have-well-it-can-because-I'm-the-freakin'-author-and-I-say-it-can-long day. Everyone exited the Highwind, except for Cid, who insisted on staying with his ship, and entered North Corral. The place hadn't changed MUCH since Tifa and Cloud had last seen it. It was much improved over the depresses slums it had once been, for now there was a healthy economy and functioning public buildings, like the school, and the stores, and the new emergency station. The population was now overwhelming compared to its old lot. The trainyard had been fixed and was now in working order, the ghosts long driven out my Barret and a few others. Above all else, the place was CLEAN. Before, junk had littered the eyesore, but now, all that was gone, and there were even a few peiced of art made from them lying about. Times were certaintly good for the small-but-growing town. The Gold Saucer brought in most of their profits, as the tourism provided a steady stream of new customers, and Barret had began enterprising, opening a small hotel for guests at the Gold Saucer, and even a private training school that promised that if you could survive its courses that you might end up nearly as strong as the legendary Barret someday, somewhat, maybe. He left the running of the hotel up to his employees, only checking in once in a while, and now devoted most of his time to training the few brave people who payed good gil to enter his reputable school, and Marlene. Marlene was developing nicely, given what she had went through already in her life. She was doing well in school, and had many friends. She was growing to be a happy young girl, and Tifa was glad to see her again.  
Entering Barret's cozy little abode, Barret was overwhelmed as the whole gang suddenly flooded in out of nowhere, except Cloud, who he thought, of course, was just a chocobo.  
"Hey! What brings all 'ya punks down here!?" He said, hugging Tifa and waving to all the rest. "Long time no see!"  
"We have a slight problem."  
"Yah? Ya gotta' fill me in, but lets grab a bite ta' eat ova' it! And hey, where's that spiky-assed punk, Cloud, hunh? I taut' he wad wit' you, Tifa!"  
"He.. is. This is him." She gestured to Cloud.  
"Hahahaaa!" Barret laughed heartily. "Dat' puny little bird, Cloud!? Ya gotta be kidden' me!"  
"Wark!" Cloud wasn't sure wether that was a compliment or not, but he descided to graciously take it as one.  
"We're quite serious, Barret." Nanaki added. Barret looked at everyone, and saw their straight faces, even Yuffie and Vincent's.  
"You are, aren't ya'!? Well, I guess afta' all that wit' da weapons, and a metea almost smashin us all, I shouldn' be suh suhprised!" He says, sitting down rather quickly.  
"Are you alright?" Tifa asked, as Barret wasn't effected by to much except what made him angry or hungry.  
"Yeah, what about Cloud, here? How ya know its him for real?"  
"Look at his eyes!" Yuffie says, piping up.  
"Your @^(& right! Itz dat MAKO look in 'em." He says.  
"Wark! Wark wark?" Cloud looks back at him.  
"He wants to know if you know any way to help get him back to normal." Nanaki interperated.  
"Huh? Nah! Don't know a thing." He says, quickly back to his old self. "Guess I shoulda know it waz you, Cloud, even ya' feathers'ah spiky!" He says laughing, until Cloud pecks him a couple times. "Hey! Calm down man, I waz jus' messin' wit ya!"  
"Well, I guess we find Cait Sith, you know where he's at anymore?" Yuffie asks, looking a bit winded, and popping in from nowhere.  
"Yah! Same old @^)* place, where else? Hey!" He grabs Yuffie off of the ground by her armor. Yuffie looks innocently up at him. "Giv'em back Yuf!" He says menacingly. Yuffie drops a few materia into his outstretched and waiting palm. "Cough 'em up!" He says. Yuffie laughs, having been caught, and drops another two. He sets her down and she quickly retreats from his reach, hiding behind Cloud lest he shoot at her. Cloud warks indignantly and pecks at her, but she quickly dodges.  
"You're all against me! Retreat!" She says and jumps out the door, running back to the Highwind.  
"Thank you, Barret. Are you interested in coming with us? We seem to be collecting the whole pack together."  
"Pack? Eh? Oh, the gang! Ya', I gotta be here fer Marlene! She'll be back from schoo' in a few. You guys have fun, and if ya need a place ta sleep, I got a hotel all ready fer a big group like you!" He laughs as everyone files out the door. They all quickly board the little tram that leads to the Gold Saucer, and are soon on their way.  
"Isn't this exciting! The Gold Saucer is so much fun!" Yuffie says to Vincent, who rests against a window, calmly looking out over the long drop to a quick death. "Right?"  
"..." Vincent ignores her.  
"Oh no! Vincent had gone back into silent mode!"  
"..."  
"Come on! Talk to me!"  
"..."  
"Oh, you're just afraid to let everyone know you're glad to be back with the group! Must have gotten pretty lonely up in that old store, huh?"  
"..."  
"Oh, you're no fun!" She fwaps him in the back of the head, and he windmills for a moment and almost falls out, but Yuffie grabs his arm and pulls him back in.  
"Oh, sorry Vincent!" She says, quickly apologizing.  
"..." He returns to his original position.  
Before long, they reach the Gold Saucer, and everyone departs the little jet-tram. Cloud pulls his old Gold Pass out of............. ........ somewhere... and flashes to the attendant, who wishes them a happy time. They file into the little room which connects all of the differet sections of the park.   
"Let's go! WHEEEEEE!!!" Yuffie cries as she jumps through the slide that leads to the game center. Everyone follows behind her, though Nanaki hesitates for a moment... slides don't agree with quadrupeds...  
"*vrip vrop vrip vrop vrip vrop*... You will win lots of prizes playing a game soon!" Cait Sith says to a customer.  
"Yay!" They say, and run off into the game room.  
"Cait Sith!" Tifa says, drawing the big stuffed creature's attention.  
"Oh, hello there! Ummm... predictions are not gaurunteed! Sorry, no refunds!" He says quickly, retreating a few paces.  
"No, it's me! Cait Sith!" Tifa says again.  
"Hmmm... Tifa! Hey, long time no see! Yuffie! Vincent! Hey everybody! What're you all doing together again?" He asks, sounding a bit worried.  
"Well, you see.... this chocobo here..."  
"Wow! That's a NICE chocobo! I bet you're winning ALL the races!" He says, hopping over to Cloud and around him, inspecting him.  
"Umm... you might not want to-"  
"Wark!" Cloud pecks him a few times, and Cait Sith runs away, crying out in surprise.  
"Not very well trained, but stil a nice breed." He says, rubbing his head pointlessly.  
"Kweh!" Cloud snorts indignantly.  
"Ummm.... it isn't really a chocobo, it's Cloud." Tifa explains.  
"Wha? You've got the exo-puppet technology!?" He asks incredulously.  
"Well... no."  
"But then how is that Cloud?"  
"He's... well, he was turned into a chocobo." Cait Sith listens intently, but doesn't seem to surprised. He probably already knew about this, on second thought. "We know how to turn him back, but we need to borrow your Cat's Bell materia." At this word, Yuffie's mind jerks back to reality from where she had been staring at the games inside the Game Center, but she restrains herself for once.  
"Well... uh... I'd like to help you, but you see... I kinda sold it!" He says, laughing.  
"What!?"  
"Wark!?"  
"I didn't need it anymore, and it was pretty valuable, so I figured that I would make some cash off of it!" He says, still laughing. "But... heh heh... I think they're still giving them out as S rank prises in the chocobo races! I'm sure Cloud could win it!" He says, backing away from the group as Tifa and Cloud begin advancing on him.  
While Cait Sith was busy having a new exo-suit transported to the Gold Saucer, Cloud and Tifa and everyone made their way to the chocobo races.  
"Entrance for chocobos is over there!" The attendant says as Cloud walks in. "Reins must be kept on chocobos at all time, and they must be thoroughly inspected before racing. Would you like me to explain how-" She begins, but Tifa brushes her out of the way. Storming over to the two attendants next to the temporary stables, Tifa quickly enlists in the B rank class, leaving two very confused and intimidated employees hoping they wouldn't be fired for allowing a first-time chocobo into a high rank.  
Cloud is quickly taken from Tifa and rushed back to the examination room to be inspected for various illnesses and parasites, as well as physical condition. A short man in a vetrinarian outfit approaches Cloud.  
"Well, what do we have here? A GOLD chocobo. My, my! This IS a surprise. Alright, what's his name, eh?" He asks his assistant, who stands ready beside an arrangement of papers and common utensils of his trade.  
"Cloud, Dr. Odine."  
"Ah, Cloud! Such a famous name for a chocobo... We will see if your racing talents match up to it. Let's see here, if you'll open your beak?" He said, reaching behind him, where the assistant handed him a gigantic toungue depresser.  
"Kweh..." Cloud sighed, and opened his mouth. The doctor insterted the piece of wood, and shone a light around his mouth for a few moments. He then placed the depresser in a small vial of liquid. The liquid turned blue almost immediately.  
"Eh? What's this? Blue..." Odine looked at Cloud for a few moments, and noted his blue eyes. "That's interesting. Look that up on the chart." Odine said off-handedlly to his assistant as he moved to Cloud's side. Cloud glared ahead of him in silent fury. I am NOT a chocobo... this is entirely DEMEANING!!! He silently raged as the doctor lifted his with and poked around the muscles there for a moment with a rubber tool, causing his feathers there to itch horribly.  
"Ummm... sir?" The assistant returned from the pile of forms and documents.  
"Yes, yes, what is it?" He asked, waving towards the assistant for him to speak quickly.  
"There's nothing for blue. I checked all of the chemical reactions, and none of them should result in blue. There isn't even any blue pigment in the solution." He said nervously.  
"So I assumed. This is an odd one..." He said, examining Cloud's legs and claws. "But, it seems to be a healthy specimen!" He said after another moment of examination, checking Cloud's eyes and leg reflexes. "He's clear, but I want you to have it's owner see me after the race." He said, and the assistant jotted down a small note on a nearby pad of paper.  
Cloud trotted quickly out of the examination room, and was led to the stables, where Tifa waited for him, dressed in a chocobo riding outfit. After the attendants had left, she leaned down to his drooping head and pet his neck.  
"I'm sorry about this whole mess!" She whispered. "Now let's go win a race, hmm?" She nudged him encouragingly.  
"Wark." He chirped, unenthusiastically in reply. Tifa sighed and the left for the starting line.  
  
Cloud stood before the starting line, surrounded by other chocobos, with other riders. He was racing the short track, and none of the other chocobos looked like they matched up to him by far. His feathers had a sparkling sheen that none of theirs could match, and all of the rest lacked the intelligence that he had.  
"Ready!" A voice called out of a speaker system, only a few short moments after the holographic system kicked in, and fantastic, though oddly tanslucent, images sprung to life around them.  
"Set!" The voice called out, and all of the other chocobos, as well as Cloud (after a brief second), dug their claws firmly into the ground.  
"GO!" It cried, and before the "O" could even be heard, he was away! He blazed ahead of the rest at full speed. Tifa leaned low against him to reduce wind resistance, and her hair had been tied firmly back and out of the way. The other chocobos were out of sight in a few moments, and they had nothing but an empty stretch ahead of them. Tifa sat quietly and allowed Cloud to pace himself, and before long, they had powered past the finish line, nearly twenty seconds ahead of the other chocobos. Cloud rested there while they caught up, but didn't need to, for he still felt like he could run the race another fifteen times without tiring.  
"Way to go, Cloud!" Tifa shouted above the abnoxious music that began playing as soon as they had crossed the beam of light representing the finish line. The other chocobos wearily made their way in, a couple barely dragging themselves there.  
"Kweh." Cloud spat, for he was beginning to get tired of all the people watching him and cheering him on (or booing him, depending on how their bet was placed).  
After the race, Tifa and Cloud return to the main center where they find Vincent, Cid, Nanaki, Barret, and ESPECIALLY Yuffie stuffing their pockets with gil. Tifa storms in as they attempt to hide the money.  
"WHAT... is all of that?" She asks, glaring at Yuffie, who is usually the first one to start any type of scheme.  
"Well, you see, we figured that Cloud was our friend, and all, so it would only be fair to bet all of our gil on him!" She says quickly and smiles innocently.  
"You KNEW that he would win." She fumes at them. "I can understand Cid, with his planes, and Barret with Marlene, Yuffie, you're just greedy for no good reason! And VINCENT? Why, of all people, do YOU need money?" She asked, thoroughly confused at this, for Vincent is usually the most aloof and least dependant of them all.  
"...new books..." He says, leaning calmly against a wall and not even flinching at her rant.  
"We were planning to cut you in, right guys?" Yuffie turns to everyone, and they all nod frantically. Tifa raises an eyebrow.  
"How much?" She asks quietly, calmly.  
"Eh.... 10%!" She says, grinning broadly. Tifa continues glaring at her. "Apiece..." She concedes. Tifa smiles, and heads off with Cloud to the next race.  
Before she can reach the attendants to sign up for the S class, a short, nervous looking man stops her.  
"Um, excuse me, but I need to talk to you... ma'am." He said, wringing his hands and averting his gaze. "That is, I need you to come talk to someone... err, I have someone who wishes to speak with you." He says quickly.  
"What? Get lost, we have a race to win." She said, and Cloud began to walk away, but the small man quickly stepped in front of him, blocking their path.  
"It really is quite important, about your chocobo, that is." He said, again in the same nervous voice. "Dr. Odine needs to talk to you before you compete in the next race."  
"Is something wrong?" She asked, suddenly listening to him closely, worried that something might be wrong with Cloud.  
"I don't know... that is, I'm only a messenger. Will you come with me, please?" He asked, more than told Tifa, and Cloud followed after him. 


End file.
